The first whiff of smoke was followed by jets of flames within minutes, Adrian Ferreira said. The fire at Maaco, 39 Seventh St., was just that fast, Ferreira said.

But the Maaco manager, Randy Porter, was faster, Ferreira added.

“We smelled smoke and then saw smoke and then saw flames,” Ferreira said. “Some people went to get hoses. The manager, Randy, said no. He said: ‘It’s too late, get out, get out.’

“We all got out. Then the fire came on really fast.”

Ferreira, the owner of Ferreira Roofing, 482 Vale St., was in Maaco, checking on his 1997 H1 Hummer when the fire began inside the auto body company Friday at 1:30 p.m.

Minutes later, flames were shooting 5 feet out of the steel smokestack on the flat roof of the garage. Thick, gray, acrid smoke filled the neighborhood, covering Pleasant Street so that buildings a half-block away were obscured.

District Chief Ambrose Smith took command of the fire, deploying apparatus even before he reached the scene.

A ladder truck set up on Corneau Street behind the building while engine companies pulled up to the front and launched an interior attack.

Firefighters had the flames knocked down within minutes. After that, firefighters began the long process of chasing flames that were hiding in the wooden trusses that made up the roof support for the one-story cinder block building.

No one was injured.

“This was a part of the building that we use for storage,” Porter said. “We don’t do any work in there. There was a big surge this morning from the electrical outage. I don’t know if something shorted out or what happened.”

Firefighters were able to contain the flames to the storage bay that is attached to the work area at Maaco. Smoke spread through the building, but the fire damage was limited to the storage bay.

The roof was heavily damaged by flames. Firefighters cut holes through the roof covering to get at the fire and also ripped down fascia boards to provide openings for streams of water.

The fire was under control and largely contained within a half-hour.

Fire investigators were on scene. Witnesses inside Maaco said that, at the start of the fire, the flames seemed to be coming from a compressor in the storage bay at the company.